I'm kind of looking to upgrade field cultivators. Right now I've got a White 226 that's been stretched to 5 bars that isn't too bad, but it's hard to level between the main sections and the wings and it has a couple spots that still give problems in trash. I found a pretty good IH 4600 that seems to be pretty well priced right and is in my size range. There's an IH 4300 coming up on a sale Monday. Just wondering how much advantage there was to the self leveling toungue on the 4300 and how much difference there was in trash clearance between the models.

I would think the biggest difference and advantage to the 4300 would be the walking tandem axle. The 4600 has a stub shaft with brass bushings that is held with two 5/16's bolts versues the 4300 that has a threaded shaft with a nut. It is easier to level front to back and side to side with the 48 or the 4300 over the 4600. They are all good field cultivators.

I have had the 4600 and the 4800, liked them both but the 4800 is the better of the 2. Selfleveling tongue, easier to set depth. The 4800 has bushings that can be replaced on the shanks whereas the 4600 does not. The 4300 is almost the same as the 4800. I would go with either the 4800 or the 4300.

4300 is a tremendous improvement over the 4600. The 4600 will have less trash clearance.

4300 is a true 5 bar design and will have more trash clearance. We had a 4300 for a while and it was a good machine. The bushings wear out in the shank springs and you will get a lot of sideways play. Be sure to check this before you buy!! They are theoretically easy to replace, but time consuming and usually rusted together.

We thought the 4300 was good -- then we got a DMI TMII and were amazed at how much better the seed bed was with the TMII.

So what's the main difference between the CaseIH and DMI as far as seedbed? The field cultivator that I'm running now has IH shanks and it's acceptable pulling a crumbler. I know that the DMI has higher pressure settings on the sweeps. I've also looked at a couple DMI Tigermates. So, then the question becomes, how much difference between a Tigermate and a Tigermate II?

We went from a IH 4500 to a DMI TMII & as other poster said - "no comparison" Can't tell you the differences between a TM & a TM II but between the IH & DMI there is a world of difference. Better shank spacing allows for much better trash flow, we have run our TM IIs in untouched corn stalks before. Something you wouldn't want to do often but you wouldn't get 20' with an IH f.c withouth plugging. 45/4600s didn't have the leveling hitch that the DMI has . DMI depth control is set by a hand crank on each set of transport wheels. May take a little onger to set but allows you to level better across the width of the machine. DMI is also a lot heavier built as well.

Around here it seems the green boys run green f.c.s & everyone else pretty much runs DMIs. BTW, FWIW, we are on our 3rd DMI f.c.

someone else would be better qualified to tell you about TM vs TMII, but the leveling mechanism is different. The TM has a similar leveling hitch like the 4300, the entire hitch pivots on the TMII back at the main frame.

The later TMIIs have 6 rows of shanks on the main frame and some diagonal braces (at least on the large frames). I have plugged the DMI, but it will go go where the IH can't

The TMII leaves a smoother seedbed and knocks apart the root balls much better. We couldn't get the 4300 to take out the tractor wheel tracks. The TMII gets them out. TMII shanks don't get the lateral slop like the IH (at least not as quickly) and the TM shanks have more spring pressure.

Before the JD 2210, most everyone around me had an IH 4300. Now everyone has either a new JD or a TM.

I owned a 4800 for 10 years and have had a 4300 for a year so here's what I know. A 4300 is the newest model you listed. It has a five bar frame all the way across whereas the 4800 that came before it only had 4 bar frame on the wings. The 4900 is the same age as the 4800 but was the number they used when the model was over 32 feet wide. It has a wider main frame and the wings only fold vertical, The 4800 folds over vertical. The 4600 was the earlier version of the 4800 and the 4700 was the early version of the 4900. 2 major differences between the 4600 and 4800 as well as the differences between the 4700 and 4900 are the earlier models had a rigid hitch with a bolt and several sets of holes to adjust fore and aft leveling. The later 4800,4900,and 4300 use a self leveling hitch with crank adjustment. The other major difference is the depth control system. The early models used a oil based stop system within the lift cylinders. The later models used a mechanical turnbuckle setup for depth control where no matter what depth the cultivator runs the cylinders are completely retracted. This is a very nice depth control system and you can easily set depth however you want on each section and it will stay there. The oil based system in my opinion was tough to keep depth consistent. The self leveling hitch was also a major improvement and made adjusting easier and followed uneaven groung much better. The frame on the 4300 was heavier and it had heavier hubs and tires than the earlier models. The shank assemblies on all are essentially the same. The earlier models may not have an adjustable harrow where it later became standard equipment. Excellent trash flow and overall well built machines. A 4300 is probably the closest comparison to a 980. I would avoid a 4600 and 4700 just for the easier adjustments on the newer models. There were tons of the later models sold around here and they have held their value well.

Have you looked at Wil-Rich? We have a IH 4300, a DMI TMII and a Wilrich. The DMI is the best by far as far as trash clearence and heavy contruction. We have had a ton of wheel bearing problems however.
The 4300 is much better than the 4600 as far as trash clearence. Not alot of difference other than that as the others have stated. The shanks get sloppy when they get some acres on them, our biggest complaint.
The Wil-Rich has been a very good cultivator. Its an older model (2500 I think). We bought it new in the late 80s. Was a left over when they went to next model. We have had very few problems with it, good clearence and does a nice job.